Betty Ford, 1918 – 2011

She follows her husband by five years.

An obituary at Los Angeles Times, "Betty Ford dies at 93; former first lady."

Former First Lady Betty Ford, who captivated the nation with her unabashed candor and forthright discussion of her personal battles with breast cancer, prescription drug addiction and alcoholism, has died. She was 93.

Ford died Friday at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, according to Barbara Lewandrowski, a family representative. The cause was not given.

As wife of Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president of the United States and the only person to hold that office without first being elected vice president or president, she spent a brief, yet remarkable time as the nation's first lady. But after he left office and even after his death in 2006 at 93, she had considerable influence as founder of the widely emulated Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage for the treatment of chemical dependencies.

"Throughout her long and active life, Elizabeth Anne Ford distinguished herself through her courage and compassion," President Obama said Friday in a statement. "As our nation's First Lady, she was a powerful advocate for women's health and women's rights. After leaving the White House, Mrs. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment. While her death is a cause for sadness, we know that organizations such as the Betty Ford Center will honor her legacy by giving countless Americans a new lease on life."

Also at ABC News, "Former First Lady Betty Ford Dead at 93." (Via Lonely Conservative and Memeorandum.)

Reaffirming Our Independence

An editorial, at Orange County Register:

The Fourth of July, Independence Day, is a good time not only for hot dogs and fireworks, but to reflect for a moment on what makes this country unique, the qualities that enabled it to become in some ways the most successful country in history, and to contemplate the extent to which those qualities still animate Americans.

It has been said that the United States is the only country founded on an idea, or a set of ideas, rather than on ethnic or racial similarities, kinship, conquest or the simple fact of a relatively homogeneous group of people living in the same geographic region for centuries. Those ideas are summed up in the Declaration of Independence, the document whose signing and promulgation we celebrate. In some ways it can lay claim to being the most revolutionary public document in human history.

Aspects of the idea that people are not just vassals of the powers that be, interchangeable cogs in the great machinery of society presided over by leaders who had by and large established themselves through conquest and pillage, had been growing for centuries before 1776. But the circumstances surrounding the decision of the Colonists to separate from Great Britain offered the opportunity to summarize emerging principles in a uniquely eloquent manner.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident," the Declaration proclaims, "that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." By "created equal," of course, the founders were not so naïve as to believe that we were all equally tall, intelligent, beautiful or worthy, but that we have equal value in the sight of God or Natural Law and should receive equal treatment rather than preferences or punishment based on our status from government. Every human being has a certain inherent dignity, and decent people respect that.

Check that link above for the rest.

Also, from Jennifer Braceras, at Boston Herald, "The lasting lessons of independence."

BONUS: At American Digest, "How Beautiful We Were."

16th Annual Pechanga Pow Wow

I headed back out to Pechanga yesterday for the Native American Pow Wow at Pechanga Resort, and also a spectacular fireworks show last night.

News reports are at North County Times, "Pechanga Pow Wow tradition carries on," and Southwest Riverside News, "16th-annual Pechanga Pow Wow celebrates Native American culture."

Hundreds of tribal members from throughout the U.S. congregate to Pechanga for the annual event in hopes of sharing their pride, traditions and indigenous culture with surrounding community members.

I missed the morning grand parade, but here's some pics from the evening, around 6:00pm with temperatures still around 90 degrees. Hot.

Tribal dancing and a crowd shot:

It's a festival event, with lots of vendors. Militant Indian paraphernalia is common:

This gentleman kindly stopped so I could take a picture:

Militancy goes hand in hand with ethnic separatism, an ideology ruthlessly exploited by hardline neo-communist anti-Americans (recall my reporting from Phoenix last year):

And at a vendor's stand a couple of spots over, a Lori Piestewa shirt on sale for $25.

Private Piestewa was a Hopi and the first Native American woman killed in combat while serving in the U.S. armed forces and she was the first woman killed in the Iraq war of 2003. Piestewa died an American, and think all Americans should be proud of her service to country. And I know that many Native Americans take great pride in their military service, so there's a tension there when we confront the militant imagery alongside the patriotic.

'Courage, New Hampshire' Premiers Sunday

At Hollywood Reporter, "Tea Partiers Create Their Own TV Show and Production Company (Exclusive)."

Also at Big Government, "‘Courage, New Hampshire’: Tea Party’s Shot Across Liberal Hollywood’s Bow." It's playing at the Krikorian Theater in Monrovia, but tickets are sold out. The program's going to DVD, so something to keep to look forward to.

No doubt. WaPo's Rachel Weiner concurs, "Can liberals start their own tea party?" (via Memeorandum).

Liberty Belle B-17 Crash

At LAT, "Restored WWII bomber crashes."

Dakota Thunder

See Rapid City Journal, "Air show brings out young and old alike."

A Short History of Political Suicide

From John Steele Gordon, at Wall Street Journal:

Woodrow Wilson's most famous piece of political advice was "Never murder a man who's committing suicide." Rep. Anthony Weiner's critics might keep that in mind. The Twitter disaster has undoubtedly ended his hopes of being New York City's next mayor and may well cost him his seat in Congress.

But as a scandal it pales before Eliot Spitzer's descent into political infamy when he was identified as being "Client No. 9" in an upscale prostitution ring. Within a week there were T-shirts for sale proclaiming "I'm Client No. 8!" and he was forced to resign as governor of New York. As he drove to make his resignation announcement, his car was tracked by helicopters through the streets of Manhattan like O.J. Simpson's famous ride in a white SUV through Los Angeles.

Rep. Vito Fossella of Staten Island (is there something in New York's water?) was arrested for drunk driving in Alexandria, Va., in 2008 and among the revelations that flowed from it was the fact that he had a 3-year-old daughter with a mistress. He declined to run for re-election. Then there's former senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards's love child, the cover-up of which has now gotten him indicted. Whatever the outcome of the case, his hopes of being president are a distant memory.

Well, you get the picture ...

RTWT.

(And there is something different about this one: Breitbart, and the epic comeuppance he's delivered to radical progressives, for starters.)